Welcome to the new issue of the Contemporary Military Challenges, which differs from others. The most loyal readers will soon notice that they already know the authors and that the discussed subjects are not really topical. Strange? Not really. This issue concludes the period, very important for military literature in Slovenia. We have been issuing our publication for fifteen years. Originally titled Slovenian Armed Forces Bulletin, the publication was later renamed Contemporary Military Challenge. This time, the publication, issued by the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, is devoted to executive and managing editors who have contributed to the creation of the publication in the past. According to the Editorial Board, they have probably been the ones most responsible and certainly persistent enough to provide for a continued issuing of the publication. Still more, with time, the publication was issued more frequently and regularly, while the level of quality increased. Upon its fifteenth anniversary, we wish to extend our appreciation to all who have in any way contributed to the creation of this publication. On this occasion, we have collected the editorials of executive and managing editors, marking important anniversaries or changes in our publication, as well as some of the first articles written for this publication.
In the first part, the editorials point to the main three reasons, which led the then Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces to prepare the first issue of the publication. All other editorials, however, give a detailed description of the purpose and goals of the publication. They offer a short review of the work accomplished by the editorial boards, illustrate the current situation and provide a look ahead. It is our firm belief that such presentation best reflects the development of the publication on its anniversary. The majority of executive and managing editors have also made the effort to write for the publication, thus setting an example for the creation of military professional literature. They have built and developed their professional, some of them also their academic, careers. Their early works, published in the second part of this jubilee issue, present the approaches and motives leading to the reflexions about the military then and in the future. A special chapter is devoted to the presentation of authors and their career paths.
I extend my sincere gratitude to all executive and managing editors for their contribution to the development of the publication; all members of editorial boards for the invested effort; proof-readers for their care for the Slovenian language; translators for the quality transfer of Slovenian thoughts into the international environment, and all those who have never been mentioned, but have made the issuing of the final product possible.
We continue to count on all of those who have cooperated with us so far and, of course, on those would wish to do so in the future. The Contemporary Military Challenges will serve as the opportunity to share our knowledge, findings and experiences with those employed with the Slovenian Armed Forces as well as those from the wider environment. This will provide us with an opportunity to prove our expertise, which was the aim of the first and all of the following executive and managing editors.
Since 2010, the Contemporary Military Challenges has been indexed in an international database, which means that the publication has been recognised both scientifically and professionally. Our goal is to index the publication in additional databases as well as to expand and enhance cooperation with other editorial boards.
ACTA NON VERBA (ON THE OCCASION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF PROF. OKSANA ZAYACHKIVSKA)